Cuban woman alleges sexual harassment at detention center

A sexual harassment complaint from a Cuban woman brought police to the Immigration Detention Centre on Friday.

The woman alleges that a prison officer has harassed her and made unwanted sexual advances.

The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service confirmed that an investigation will be carried out in conjunction with the Prison Service, which manages the facility.

The detention center houses both men and women who have applied for asylum in the Cayman Islands, and now houses male prisoners, kept in a separate dormitory, as well.

The woman has been on hunger strike for three weeks now, in an attempt to bring government’s attention to how asylum cases are managed in the Cayman Islands. She is joined currently by three other hunger strikers, who stepped up the protest over the weekend by ceasing to drink water, in addition to refusing food.

The hunger strikers had previously consumed water and fruit juices, but indicated over the weekend that they would like to step up pressure on government and will now refuse both solid foods and liquids.

Detainees reported multiple hospitalizations over the weekend to treat dehydration and blood pressure issues resulting from the strike.